WHEN does drizzle become a downpour? When Paul Scholes is followed by Emile Heskey, Paul Robinson and Wes Brown in turning their backs on playing for England.

Gareth Southgate cannot for the life of him understand it – the idea a player would voluntarily decline the opportunity to wear the Three Lions.

As well as 57 England caps to his name Southgate, who is in the running for the Aston Villa job, is also a published poet. But even he struggles with the right words to describe recent withdrawals.

“I never played for one of the Big Four teams, so it is difficult for me to relate to a decision like Wes’,” said Southgate. “England was always the biggest part of my career. I think that, for the lads who play at Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester and Chelsea, club has come before country for a long time now.

“I don’t understand it. Why you would deny yourself the chance to play for your country is beyond me? We saw in the World Cup that playing for England did not look an enjoyable experience.

“There is likely to be an adverse reaction against Hungary and somehow players have fallen out of love with England.

“Quite a few play for our country now because it is what they should do and be seen to be doing, not necessarily because they want to. You are putting yourself up to be shot when you play for England, but you’ve got to be prepared to handle that. It is a concern because, if people don’t want to play for their country, something is wrong.”

Southgate will be at Wembley commentating for ITV on tonight’s friendly against the Hungarians, where crowd reaction to the World Cup displays is likely to be critical.

He added: “England’s poor performances were more about togetherness and spirit. It seems an unhappy environment.

“I don’t think that is just under Fabio Capello; it has been that way for a while. We had a great atmosphere in 1996. Where is the Paul Gascoigne in our national side now? Or Robbie Fowler, or Steve McManaman. I know they could be silly, but you need that.

“I hope Fabio learns from what happened and I think he will. His record is brilliant; he won’t need telling things have to change.”